Brush



June 5, 1934. c. c. GERHARDT BRUSH Filed May 29, 1931 414: v. n Lmnn l INVENTOR HA/w55 5mm/m7 Patented June 5, 1934 PATENT ori-ICE BRUSH Charles C. Gerhardt, Douglas Manor, N. Y. Application May 29, 19731, Serial No. 540,926 1 claim. (C1. 15-19s) This invention relates to rotary brushes, and particularly to rotary wire brushes of the type in which tufts of wire bristles are substantially uniformly distributed about the periphery of the i `UV brush. Brushes of this type have various uses,

such, for example, as cleaning 'the tubes of boilers and abrading or cleaning other surfaces.

Brushes of the type to which the invention particularly relates are subjected to compara- "10 tively harsh usage, especially in removing scale and other incrustations upon the interior of boiler tubes or other metal surfaces. It is therefore important not only that the cost of construction of such brushes be made as low as possi- 41li ble because of the necessity for frequent replacement, but that where possible the supporting parts for the bristles, which are not subjected to the rough usage, be so constructed and arranged that they inay be used again and that as a practical matter the only parts of the brushes that will be worn out in use will be the bristles.

A particular object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a brush construction which is so simple and so inexpensively made that it can be sold to the trade in competition with other brushes and which has the further advantage that the manufacturer may offer to the customer the option of having the brush reconditioned when the bristles wear out, instead of purchasing an entirely new brush.

The invention aims also to provide a brush, not only having the foregoing advantages over many existing brushes, but in which the bristles themselves are more securely held in position in the brush structure than in many existing brushes.

Other objects and important features of the invention will be pointed out in or appear from the following description and claim when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing in Which- Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section of a rotary brush embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a detail view illustrating one manner of inserting the tufts of bristles into the perforated cylinder, and

Figure 4 illustrates another way of inserting the tufts of bristles.

In the illustrative embodiment of the invention 5G the cylindrical shell 2, which may be of brass or of any other metal suitable to the particular uses to which the brush is to be put, is provided with perforations 4 so distributed across the width of the shell and about its periphery as to give the desired spacing and the desired distribution of the tufts 8 'of bristles, the perforations being also of such gage as will give the desired tuft size. The bristles, of suitable wire, usually a hardened and tempered steel wire to give the desired stiffness and hardness, are preferably of Gu U form with the U end of the bristle preferably projecting into the interior of the shell to insure a more secure locking or setting of the bristle in the means, hereinafter described, which secures it in the brush construction. It will be understood, however, that bundles of individual Wires might also be used in place of the U-shaped wires.

The bristles may be inserted through the per- -fcrations in various ways, as, for example, by 7c being drawn through by means of a wire 5 in the well-known manner of inserting bristles in brush structures, as shown in Fig. 3, but preferably they are inserted in the manner shown in Fig. 4 by punching or pushing the tufts of bristles 75 into the perforations in the shell by means of a plunger 6 which engages the tuft of bristles 8 at the middle of the tuit, where the U-shaped bend is lor is to be formed, and either forms this bend in the operati-cn of punching the bristles through sa the perforation or engages a pre-formed bend in the bristles to effect this insertion of the bristles in the perforation, the plunger 6 being so constructed and of such dimensions, as shown, that it can readily be withdrawn from the perforation g5 4 without disturbing the bristles after rthey have been pushed into the desired position in the perforation.V

After each of the perforations 4 in the shell 2 has been provided with its tuft of bristles 8 so 90 located in the respective perforations that the U- shaped ends of the bristles extend sufficiently into the interior of the shell 2 to permit the desired setting of the bristles in position and also so located that there is the desired projection of the bristles beyond the outer periphery of the shell, molten metal 1G is poured into the interior of the shell to set the bristles in place, any suitable metal or alloy being used for this purpose such, for example, as solder, Babbitt metal or lead, the mi) fwible metal l() used to set the bristles in place serving also to center the brush upon its supportting shaft in the manner now to be described. It will be seen from the drawing that, if desired, the entire interior of the shell may be iilled with the fusible metal 10 and that the shaft-receiving opening may be either bored or breached out of the center of the brush construction thus formed, but if the brush is to be subjected to heavy usage it is preferable to provide a hub or bushing 12 of HQ harder material than the fusible metal used to set the bristles and center the brush. This hub or bushing 12 may be centered in the shell 2 when the fusible metal l0 is poured into the shell to secure the bristles 8, the fusible metal serving both to secure the bristles 8 in the shell 2 and also to secure the hub or bushing 12 in the shell and maintain it in proper centered relation to the shell so that the shaft that is received in the hub or bushing l2 is properly centered with respect to the brush.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the invention provides a simple, easily assembled and comparatively inexpensive brush construction which effectively maintains the bristles in position to withstand heavy usage and which, when the bristles are worn or so distorted that their eectiveness is too nuch reduced, may readily be provided with new bristles by simply melting out the fusible metal 12 which maintains the bristles in position and reconstructing the brush with new bristles in the same manner that the brush was originally constructed, the only parts of the brush that cannot be used again being simply the old bristles.

What is claimed as new is:

A rotary wire brush which comprises a peripheral perforated shell of material substantially harder than the fusible center hereinafter specifled, looped tufts of wire bristles, each having the looped end extending through a single perforation of said shell into the space within said shell, and a central body of fusible metal cast into anchoring relation to the inner ends of said tufts of bristles, said shell being adapted to afford to the bristles of each tuft substantially rigid support circumferentially of the brush, whereby to restrict the alternate bending of the bristles, so as to avoid loosening them from the anchoring metal.

CHARLES C. GERHARDT. 

